


It Could Be So Much More

by JustMoreLokiFics



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3679500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustMoreLokiFics/pseuds/JustMoreLokiFics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom puts on a little show for his fans, but is it more than a show?</p><p>Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing.</p><p>Unfinished and will never continue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic, feel free to tell me what you think. Hope you like it! (Kind of a terrible title but titles are hard)  
> Updates will not be regular, if you need regularity, you might be best to wait until I have more of this done and up.

I can’t believe I’m really here. I have my phone, a marker and my copy of The Avengers. I have been waiting here for hours.

Tom Hiddleston is coming here. He is going to walk along the ground not more than a metre from where I am standing. Even the thought of it is making me want to start screaming.

Mum thinks I am at school, but I have a class off this morning, and even if I didn’t, there is no way I am ever going to miss this. I took the early bus in to ‘school’ but got off at the mall instead. I was one of the first few people there, some people even camped out overnight to get the best spots, but mum would never let me do that. Soon it starts to get busy. More and more people are piling in for a chance to see Tom, and I am right at the front.

Then, without warning, screams, more than three hundred people, crowded as tightly together as it is possible to be, making as much noise as they can, all at once. Then I see him. Even more perfect than all the pictures on tumblr could ever show. He makes his way down the carpet through the crowd slowly, stopping to sign everything, and taking as many selfies as he can. 

There are some people across the walkway from me who are dressed up, some as Loki, some as the Avengers. He stops near them and makes fighting poses with the Avengers, smiling his perfect smile. Then he turns around and looks straight at me. I almost pass out right there, but I am held up by the people around me.

He steps across the gap between us with his incredibly long legs and takes the pen and my copy of The Avengers from my hands, he scribbles his signature and then something shorter. He turns around and takes my phone, leaning back into the crowd. I see the pictures being saved to the phone, but I barely even notice, I can barely even think. He is so close to me, he held my pen, he held my phone!

Tom hands my phone back with a smile and moves on, I pocket my phone and slip the pen and my copy of The Avengers back into my school bag. Then I remember that he wrote something else on the DVD. I pull it back out and study it closely. Then I realise what it says. He signed my DVD as Loki.

By now the yelling and cheers are a little less, nobody can keep up that level of noise for very long. He moves on down the line and I spot someone, she is wearing a dark green dress with gold highlights, It might have been a Fem!Loki cosplay, except that she has the scepter and the helmet, but she isn’t wearing them. Tom walks over, probably expecting to sign them and move on, but I sense that something else is going on. I am proven right moments later when he reaches her. She passes Tom the helm and scepter and a note. Tom steps back and opens the note. Then he smiles. He puts on the helm and straightens up a little. A hush falls over the crowd, the air is heavy with expectation, nobody knows what to expect, but everyone is expecting it. The crowd where he has passed has thinned out a little, I can move again but I am as close to the barrier as I can get, waiting with everyone else. Then a deep, commanding voice rings out. One word, the word most of us have dreamed of hearing from those lips. 

“Kneel.”

No need for him to yell, no need for anything more than a simple spoken word and everyone there falls to their knees without a word, too stunned even to scream. Phones come out everywhere though. This is going to be on tumblr in 15 minutes.

A section of the crowd parts and I realise dimly that this was probably all organised beforehand, but I don’t really process that thought as I shuffle around to see where the new pathway leads. Some security guards are scurrying around moving some temporary walls out of the way to reveal a replica of the throne of Asgard.

“Well, that is most certainly the reaction I was hoping for. I presume anything I say will reach the eyes and ears of S.H.I.E.L.D within the day?”

The girl who gave him the helm and scepter replies. Her voice is little more than a whisper and yet everyone hears her response. “Only if you wish it to, my king. We are yours to command.”

“So you are those who call themselves my army. A good start certainly, and clearly willing to serve, but you lack the discipline I would expect of an army.”

He stands up from his throne and paces on the dias, contemplating his next move.

“One of you, I need your camera phone. I wish to send a message to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Every phone in the room is offered. He steps down from the throne and selects a phone seemingly at random from the crowd. He calls its owner to rise and begin recording a speech for all of Midgard to hear.

“I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

Some of the crowd have found their voices, and begin to cheer and scream. Loki simply looks at the offending individuals and they quiet down almost instantly.

“This is a message for all of Midgard, and for S.H.I.E.L.D in particular. By now I am sure you all know of my reason for being here. I wish to claim the throne that is my birthright, and if I cannot have Asgard then I will have Midgard.”

He resumes pacing and the woman holding the phone turns slightly, keeping the camera trained on him.

“This time my army serves me by choice, and this time you cannot kill them without guilt. Show them my army.” He directs the camerawoman and she spins around slowly to capture all of our kneeling forms before settling once more on Loki.

“Humans, mostly female and mostly young. Unless I have misjudged your culture, you will hesitate to attack an army of women and children. That will be your downfall.”

“To all of my loyal followers in this pitiful realm: you will be welcomed into my ranks if you come with honest intentions, but if you seek to tell S.H.I.E.L.D my secrets I will know, and it will not end well for you. I fully intend to claim this realm as my own and opposition will not be tolerated.”

He sits down once more on the throne and in the moment of silence that follows as he considers what he will say next my mind clears just enough to know that this was set up beforehand, but not enough to care or act on that knowledge.

I am unable to think of anything else and my eyes are glued to Loki, even though he is still wearing mortal clothes I can’t think of him as Tom, as he gazes out over the crowd.

The rest of his speech to the camera passes in a blur, something to sceptics about how S.H.I.E.L.D is covering it all up and found actors who looked like the Avengers to make movies and hide the truth. Something else caught on three hundred phones but directed to only one.

I snap back and remember that I need to pay attention to the rightful king of Midgard if I want to have any chance at holding some form of office in his version of this realm.

“Where are your Avengers now?” He says in a low tone that is almost as menacing as the facts he is presenting.

“By the time they can be gathered I will have moved on, you will never find me unless I wish you to, and when I do wait for you, you will lose, and all of mankind will kneel.”

He stands up again and this time walks down back to the main path. He removes the helm and scepter and returns then to the fan who presented them to him. Seeing that, everyone stands back up and the cheering resumes, far louder than it was before. Tom returns to his usual happy self and continues to sign anything people can get a hold of. He walks on, eventually clearing the crowds and is rushed into the waiting car by security.

As everyone turns away, about to return to their everyday lives, knowing that it was all organised beforehand, I see the briefest flash of green light as the window rolls up on his car.

It could be nothing, a camera flash, a phone unlocking. But it could be so much more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever fic, feel free to tell me what you think. Hope you like it!  
> No real action in this one, but some more info that was glossed over in the first chapter, and a little character development. Hope to post more soon. (The school holidays are coming up here so I might even get one up every couple of days, no promises though!)

\-----------

The school day passes as normal, tumblr is blocked at school anyway, and I do my best to push that flash of green out of my mind. At lunch I tell my friends about the whole thing and I can barely contain the need to scream again. I show off my copy of The Avengers to everyone I see, and half the school has seen my selfie with Tom by the end of the day.

I hop on the bus home and can’t wait to see just how crazy tumblr is going right now.

I get home and thankfully have no urgent homework to do because it is Friday, and I can just do in on the weekend, so I open tumblr up on my laptop and hide away in my room as usual. As expected, everyone is going absolutely insane. The first thing I do is post my selfies and the video from my phone, then I scroll.

Everybody has posted their version of the morning, at varying quality. I search for the ‘official’ video taken on the phone chosen by Loki. Tom, it’s Tom. It can’t be real, it was all set up beforehand as fanservice right. Like comic con. Yes, like comic con. I plug my headphones in and watch the video at least three times before I realise what I really want to find. I need to see if anyone got a picture of that green shimmer in the car.

When I turn the video off I realize that I am not sitting on the bed anymore, without deciding to do so, I had moved to place my laptop on the bed and was now kneeling on the floor in front of it, just as I had been for the original speech today. Shaking my head quickly I sit back up on the bed and focus on finding photos of the green light.

It doesn’t take long. At some point during my scrolling the sun had gone down, so I am now bathed in the glow of my laptop screen alone. When I realise this I remember that I should probably have dinner. I take a break and wander into the kitchen to make toast or something when my mum interrupts me.

“Oh, so you finally remembered that the rest of the world exists did you?” She laughs, then her expression changes. “I saw it on the news, and before you go asking what ‘it’ is, I know very well that you didn’t go straight to school today, I know where you were, and I just wish you had told me!”  
“I didn’t think you would let me go.” I reply, wondering where this was going.

“Why wouldn’t I? You know when I was your age I skipped an entire day of classes on at least two separate occasions to see some of my favourite actors!” She laughs again and I relax, knowing that she is more likely to join me in drooling over Tom’s very existence than get me in trouble.

My toast pops up and mum wanders back off to whatever she was doing before, probably arguing with people online, she does that an awful lot.

I go through into the loungeroom where mum is sitting with her laptop and eat my toast, when I finish and get up to go back to my room she says “At least put The Avengers back in the cupboard.” 

I go to collect it from my bag and as I hurry past her to the DVD cupboard she pauses me and asks to see it. I hand it over and she scrutinises the signature for a moment before handing it back. As I place it in the cupboard I ask what channel showed it on the news so I can look up the report online.

I head back into my room and before I look at my computer again I set an alarm on my phone for midnight, just so I have some way to pull out of the world I am about to dive into.

I find the news coverage of this morning’s events and look through every detail. As I scroll the comments one in particular catches my eye, it mentions the green light in the car. Now convinced that it was real and that I am not imagining things I take a second to think of the implications if it was all real. I look back through one of the better recordings of the speech and note the details of what he said about S.H.I.E.L.D and the marvel movies all being real.

It’s not a very long speech so I don’t get all the details about how they did it, but I do stumble across a conspiracy theorist’s blog which is really busy now. I would usually avoid all that stuff, but the revelation that the government created, or maybe took over, a whole movie studio just to keep this hidden makes me wonder what else they might be hiding.

The biggest issue when I consider that it might be real is why thousands of people didn’t die in New York just a few years ago. I look back through the footage again and it is hinted at. The conspiracy blog that I am now looking at explained one possibility, somewhat. When S.H.I.E.L.D discovered Loki’s plans, well before the incident in Germany, they made contact and made a deal that they would play it out elsewhere, and if Loki won, S.H.I.E.L.D would relinquish the Earth to him as long as he promised not to harm innocents.

Presumably Loki only agreed because he did not really want to deal with the rebuilding of every major city on the planet.  
The only question left is why did he reveal the truth, even if he pretended not to.

It’s clearly too late to be awake, I’m really considering that it might be real. I think to myself.

I shake my head to clear it of the delusion and shut down the computer for the night but as I settle into bed I can’t keep my mind off that flicker of light. There are pictures of it, so what could it be? No phone is that bright, and why would a camera flash be going off in the car, there were no cameras inside and the light wasn’t reflecting off the car. It has to be Loki, there are no other reasonable explanations.

Of course there are, there are lots of reasons for a random flash of light! At least that’s what my rational brain is trying to tell me. My inner fangirl is telling me to just assume that it is real because there is some indication and it is an excuse to be a fangirl.

I calm down, taking deep, slow breaths, and force it all out of my mind, I throw some music on my iPod and slip it under my pillow. I drift off into a comfortable sleep, convinced once more that movies are just movies. Almost the complete opposite of the giggling, squealing mess that I had been not five minutes before.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit shorter than the other chapters, I've been really busy.

Unfortunately I forgot about the alarm. I am jerked awake at midnight, after only half an hour of sleep. I check my notifications and just like that I am lost to the world of fandoms again.

The first thing I look for is an accurate transcript of the speech, otherwise I will be lost in the video again. Once I find that I head back into the tags. All the people on the other side of the world are just discovering the whole thing now, as they wake up, so a whole new wave of theories is thrown into the mix.

Eventually I fall asleep with my computer on my lap.

 

I don’t wake up until 10 the next morning, so I have the house to myself for a while. Mum is taking my little brother out to his weekend sport, I don’t even know what he is doing at the moment, and Dad is still overseas for work. 

Mum would tell me that this is a great opportunity to get some homework done, but I have other things on my mind. Namely that infuriating and unforgettable green light. My rational mind is still trying to come up with a reasonable excuse that makes it mean nothing.

It isn’t working.

The best idea I have at the moment is that I passed out yesterday morning after he signed my DVD and then dreamed the whole thing, but then how are there so many videos from angles that I couldn’t capture?

None of it makes sense.

I check my phone again, and there is a text from a number I don’t recognise. It is a long list of numbers, like, really long. At least two screens worth.  
I ignore it and go back to my ‘research.’

Not that scanning the posts looking for more information on the green light really counts as research, but it’s better than my maths assignment.

Sadly it is hard work keeping up that level of energy and excitement for long, so I start to lose interest in the whole thing. By lunch time I really can’t be bothered any more so I shut down and get something to eat.

Eventually I cave in and do my homework. That takes up most of my afternoon. By the time I finish there are hundreds of new posts on tumblr and I’m at least a little interested again.

I scroll absentmindedly and hardly notice when my brother gets home with mum.

I notice some people discussing some random text. Then I realise that I got it too. After a little longer it seems like everyone who was there yesterday morning got that text. How is something I doubt we will ever answer, but the why is blindingly obvious to the part of me that always just assumed that it is real. That everything in all the movies is real and always has been.

It’s all real.

There are groups chatting about all sorts of codes and ciphers, looking to figure out what it means, and there are people who don’t really know what to do that are effectively just running in circles, even from behind their computer screens.

There isn’t really much I can contribute, so I re-read the transcript looking for clues. The text must be linked, it has to be.

Then it hits me. I scramble to google maps and start entering the lines of numbers. Locations. One just outside most of the major cities on the planet, the western ones at least.

The locations of his events, as he put it.

I race to post this theory and the second I hit post my phone buzzes beside me. Expecting it to be one of my friends or maybe work asking if I could come in I pick it up and then stare blankly at the text. It is from the same number as the co-ordinates. Another list of numbers. I rush to post it online too, and then stop to figure out what it might be, and how I got it exactly when I hit post.

Maybe he is monitoring the web. Maybe it’s a simple bot, that would make more sense.

Everyone got the text.

Everyone is posting about it.

Everyone is reading my posts.

Everyone figures out what the new text is.

You can’t have an event without a time.


	4. Chapter 4 (Speech Transcript)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler again, but I am posting it as chapter 4. I hope to get more up in the next two weeks as I am now on school holidays. I am also working on another fic which I will post and link to from here.

\---  
The following is a complete transcript of Tom Hiddleston’s speech as Loki on Friday morning:

“Kneel.

Well, that is most certainly the reaction I was hoping for. I presume anything I say will reach the eyes and ears of S.H.I.E.L.D within the day

So you are those who call themselves my army. A good start certainly, and clearly willing to serve, but you lack the discipline I would expect of an army.

One of you, I need your camera phone. I wish to send a message to S.H.I.E.L.D.

I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.

This is a message for all of Midgard, and for S.H.I.E.L.D in particular. By now I am sure you all know of my reason for being here. I wish to claim the throne that is my birthright, and if I cannot have Asgard then I will have Midgard.

This time my army serves me by choice, and this time you cannot kill them without guilt. Show them my army. 

Humans, mostly female and mostly young. Unless I have misjudged your culture, you will hesitate to attack an army of women and children. That will be your downfall.

To all of my loyal followers in this pitiful realm: you will be welcomed into my ranks if you come with honest intentions, but if you seek to tell S.H.I.E.L.D my secrets I will know, and it will not end well for you. I fully intend to claim this realm as my own and opposition will not be tolerated.

I will contact those of you who I believe will join me. When I do you may share that information with whoever you please, but be aware, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is present at my events there will be consequences.

S.H.I.E.L.D. has long been hiding in the shadows, it has been a part of many things in many places, the NSA, the KGB, ASIO.

It has had a hand in hundreds of agencies throughout history, manipulating the human race at a level that even I am impressed with.

I have long been watching this realm, and I know many of it’s secrets. I was content to leave them well enough alone until my heritage was revealed and I was denied a throne. I then grew angry. I am sure anyone who has seen your ‘movies’ cataloging of my past knows what happened.

They made movies about it to hide the truth, seeking actors who looked enough like us to hide events as filming and travel. You may wonder why I have revealed the truth, but my reasons are my own, and not for mortal ears. You may also wonder why there were not thousands of people dead in New York a short time ago. Once more the facts are for me to reveal to those I deem worthy. I will say this simply, S.H.I.E.L.D bargained with something I do not believe they had the right to offer.

I am sure many wish to fight me, but how will you do that if you can never find me.  
There are very few people who could ever match me, and none who can manage it alone.

Where are your Avengers now?

By the time they can be gathered I will have moved on, you will never find me unless I wish you to, and when I do wait for you, you will lose, and all of mankind will kneel.”


	5. My new fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter (Sorry) just a notification that I posted the first chapter of a new Loki fic.

Sorry that this isn't a chapter, but I just posted the first chapter of my new Loki fic called Cover Your Bases, you can find it here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3727057

Also thanks for reading, I hope you are liking it and I will pay attention to suggestions of where you want this to go (I will not write smut though)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry to have kept you all waiting for a while, I’ve been distracted

Once we understand what the second text is about my laptop and phone batteries run out, probably a sign that I need to shut down for the night. I put all my devices on charge overnight and drift off into an un-interrupted night’s sleep.

It is now Sunday morning, I dealt with my homework yesterday, and there is heaps of new stuff on tumblr, so the day will probably be lost there.

As I scroll I see that no-one is talking about the texts anymore, either they have been solved and dealt with, or something else is happening. I check my phone for any more texts, nothing. I look back through the posts from last night, looking for whatever it was that stopped people from posting about it all. In fact, none of the Loki or Tom Hiddleston blogs have posted anything for hours. The most recent posts from them are all of a big list of the times and locations of the ‘events’.

I open up a copy of the list and look for anything that might explain it. The events are all scheduled for next weekend or the weekend after that, so that can’t be it. The blogs are from all over the world, so they are never all asleep. All the other blogs that I follow are active, so there is nothing global that could be drawing their attention, it has to be something internal. Then I remember that my phone turns off wifi and data when the battery gets really low, and I have to go in and turn them on again, so even if there was a text I wouldn’t have gotten it overnight. I dive into the settings and turn on my wifi and data, then I head straight in and manually refresh my texts. Nothing important, just a few messages from Tessa about our biology assignment. I shoot off a quick reply to her and then just stop to think for a bit.

I spend hours just thinking about why all the blogs might have stopped posting, and why they didn’t say anything about the fact. By the time I realise where I am again it is nearly lunchtime.

I throw together a sandwich and sit in the lounge room to eat. Mum is there, on her laptop, probably on the internet again.

Halfway through my sandwich I start wondering out loud about where all the blogs went. Before I am even a whole minute in mum stops me.  
“I have no idea what you are talking about you know.”  
“Oh, sorry mum, I assume you don’t really care and want me to go and mumble somewhere else?” This is a running joke between us, I’m always rambling about something, and she never has any clue what’s going on, even if she listens.  
“Actually, this time around it sounds kind of interesting, and maybe you can sort out your thoughts if you explain them to someone else.” Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything. I explain everything that has happened so far. I show her the video and the list of events, I spill every piece of information I have about the whole thing, and some theories that grow as I say them, but nothing that really answers the current question.

Mum seems genuinely interested so I offer to set up a tumblr for her so she can keep track of anything new that happens, but she flatly refuses to have any social media, for reason that I will never understand.

I go back to my room and my laptop and then I realise that it is probably a really good thing that I didn’t make mum a tumblr account. Firstly I don’t want her to start tracking my account and watching what I do online, and I really don’t want her to see some of the stuff I have read, and posted for that matter.

I give up on finding answers this afternoon and just watch videos about the next few movies.

Unfortunately we have to go out for dinner to meet up with some family for some cousin’s birthday. I haven’t really talked to most of my cousins or aunts and uncles for at least five years, probably closer to ten. At least Katie will be there, I like spending time with Katie, but she lives out of town so I almost never see her anyway. Last time I checked she was about to start watching the Marvel movies, so maybe she has been caught up in all this too.

We park outside the restaurant and head towards the entrance, half the family is already waiting there, for some unknown reason we always wait outside together before we go in. I scan the group for Katie but she isn’t here yet. Mum nudges me forward and I make my uncomfortable greetings. All the default responses, school is fine, I know I’ve grown, no I don’t have a boyfriend yet. 

Finally Katie shows up with her parents and everyone wanders inside. We find our table and I sit down between mum and Katie. Mum joins in some boring sounding conversation with some of the other adults and I turn to Katie. “So, did you start watching the Marvel movies yet?” I ask, hoping that she had so we could at least talk about something.

“I did, I still haven’t seen _The Incredible Hulk_ but I did watch _The Avengers_ just the other day!”

‘Finally... Took you long enough!” I have been nagging her to see them for more than a year now.

I slowly drag the conversation through the basic stuff you should ask if you are talking about this sort of stuff. Eventually she caves, she knows I have been obsessed with Loki for a while now. “I know where this is going. How long until you were going to ask about Loki?” My face flushes with unfounded embarrassment and I grin sheepishly. “It was the next thing I was about to say... what do you think of him?”

“Well, for starters, he really should have won in New York, that whole hive-mind thing is total rubbish, also he’s super hot and I’ve been watching gifs all day...” She finishes her sentence in a rush and then trails off. ‘Ok, all weekend.”

I smile and then ask the important question. “Have you seen what Tom did on Friday morning?”

“No, I was probably too wrapped up in my homework, since I’m down here all week my teachers loaded me up with all the work I’m going to miss.” She sighs and then adds, “What happened on Friday morning?”

I smile and struggle to hold back a giggle-scream that has been building for some time. I pull out my phone and my earbuds. Finding the video I saved earlier for this very situation I hand her the earbuds and press play. It is a combination of the ‘official’ video on the phone he chose and a video from somewhere else that covered the start, from when he turned up.

I see Katie’s eyes go wide and I can tell that she is holding back a squeal that could probably shatter the windows.

When the video finishes she carefully takes the earbuds out and looks me dead in the eye. “Were you there?” Her surprisingly calm face is betrayed by her voice, falling from a conversational tone to a disbelieving whisper in the space of three words.

I grin from ear to ear and nod. Then I tell her that that isn’t even the best bit. I show her the pictures of the green light, then the text. I explain the texts and wonder again why the blogs stopped posting. Then for the first time I realise that I haven’t even checked when and where the closest ‘event’ will be. I pull up the list and look through the locations, all over the world. I find one near here, just outside the city at 11AM next Saturday. “Hey, Katie when are you going back home, you said you would be here all week?”

“I go home on Sunday night.”

“Ok, you know how I said there was going to be some sort of event?” She nods, it was only a minute ago, “well, the one here is on Saturday morning. I have already mentioned the whole thing to mum, and she is happy to let me go, so maybe you could come over to my place overnight on friday and then we can go on Saturday morning and see what’s going on?!” The rambling question forms in my mind as I ask it, the excitement clear in my voice.

“I’ll ask now,” she turns to her parents. “hey, mum? Could I stay over at (Y/N)’s place on friday night?”

“I guess so, any particular reason?”

“We just want to catch up, it’s been ages since we got to talk properly!”

“Ok, what do you want tonight, we are about to order.”

I tune out there, poking mum’s arm to get her attention. “When are we going to order? I’m starving.”

“I guess we can order now if you want, what are you going to get tonight?”

“How about a beef burger, they are usually pretty good here right?”

“Beef burger it is then.”

She stands up to go and order so I turn back to Katie. The rest of the evening passes without further discussion of Loki or the marvel movies.

By the time I get in the car to head home I have almost forgotten about the whole deal. Then mum asks what I was planning with Katie. I grudgingly reveal the basics of the plan for Saturday morning and she smiles. “The sleepover I can do, but I might not be able to let you out on Saturday if you don’t get all your chores done this week.”

“Fine, but that’s like, blackmail or something you know.”

“I know, I know.” She smiles as if that is a perfectly reasonable thing for a mother to do.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting there, and sorry about making everyone wait, I kind of lost motivation, but i'm back and since I'm about to start school I can do this to procrastinate!

The week takes forever. The skys are grey and I spend most of my afternoons slaving away at my chores and my homework. I barely get time in the evenings to check on the blogs, but they are still quiet, not even irrelevant reblogs. I can’t help but think that maybe someone is blocking their posts. I can think of two someones that might have the means to do that, Loki and S.H.I.E.L.D, but I have no idea about the reason why.

I make it to Friday afternoon after what feels like an eternity, and I still have to clean my room so that we can fit the spare mattress on the floor. In the end I just shove my clothes in a drawer and shift the other stuff under the bed before collapsing on top of the covers and resting for just a few moments.

‘A few moments’ turns out to be closer to half an hour as I am stirred by a car rolling up the driveway. The moments pass agonisingly slowly but also in a hurried frenzy as I scramble off the bed and make it to the front door in time.

Mum steps outside for a moment to talk to Katie’s parents about a number to call in case of an emergency and other pointless worries while I show Katie into my room and offer her a drink. We wander around the house aimlessly for a few moments before mum comes back in and reveals her stash of chips and chocolate. We pick up as much as we can carry and race back into my room where the spare mattress has appeared, thanks, I suspect, to my younger brother, who is desperate to show off his latest burst of strength at any opportunity.

We sit in silence for several seconds, waiting for one of us to say something.

“So.”

“So.”

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know, I’m thinking staring endlessly at pictures of Tom Hiddleston would be a good start.” I am somewhat surprised at that, I really didn’t expect Katie to suggest anything quite that fangirl-ish.  
“Let’s do that.” I respond, somewhat absently and fumble for my laptop.

Unfortunately tumblr is still being blocked by some unseen force, so we are reduced to saved pictures and google searches, still bountiful riches of fangirl fodder, but not quite the same as scrolling tumblr.

Eventually we both give in at almost the same moment. We have to swap to videos or one of us is going to go crazy in a bad way, as opposed to the good, screaming fangirl way.

We are halfway through a really funny interview when mum pokes her head in the door, asking what we want for dinner. The eventual verdict is pizza and garlic bread.

Apparently my brother has decided that if I get a sleepover he should get one too, and is about to leave for a friend’s place, so we get the TV to ourselves tonight.

We close up the laptop and emerge from my room for the first time in nearly three hours, stretching out stiff muscles. Pizza is on the way and we take the opportunity to look through the DVD collection for something to watch later on.

“I know you said you watched it just the other day...”

“You have _The Avengers_?”

“Signed by Loki himself.”

“I have to see that, NOW!”

I pull The Avengers off the shelf and pass it over to Katie, she sees the signature and her grip on it tightens for a moment before she shifts her hands, now holding it reverently, like some sort of ancient relic.

“So, back to the question at hand, what to watch tonight.”

I get the feeling that the question was answered when we sat down at the laptop hours earlier.

“Will it just be us in the room?”

“Should be, after mum goes to bed, we just can’t make too much noise.”

“Done, I can probably manage to keep quiet.”

“Ok, _Avengers_ it is.”

No sooner is the decision made than mum gets back, pizza in one hand, microwave popcorn in the other. Like the vultures we are Katie and I practically tackle her to the ground and run off to the table with the pizza.

Mum puts on the news and we eat, the news is just more death and destruction, as usual.

“I really hate watching the news.” As usual I am the first to make some desperate attempt at conversation. “It’s all just doom and gloom and the world’s ending.”

Katie nods, and mum agrees, adding that it’s still the best place to know what’s going on.

“Nope, have you seen the internet?”

Katie get’s all her news on the internet, I’m not sure how she manages it but she always knows what’s going on nearly an hour before everyone else seems to, I still don’t know how she didn’t see what happened on Friday morning.

The rest of the pizza disappears and mum pulls out her laptop again. We hide away in my room for a while longer, setting up Katie’s bed for the night and putting my laptop on charge.

We chat for a while about regular stuff. School, work and gossip. I have never met most of the people she tells me about, but I have heard stories about them for years. There are only so many kids in a small town. Cas has been through three boyfriends since I last heard and Dylan is making plans for a big surprise at formal at the end of the year.

After a while mum announces that she is going to bed and the TV is ours, as long as we aren’t too loud.

I don’t think I have ever moved that fast before. Before mum is even in her room we are out of mine. Katie puts on the microwave popcorn and I struggle to plug in the DVD player properly through the mass of cords going every which way behind the cabinet.

After a long struggle I manage to manhandle the wires into place as Katie sits down with a huge bowl of popcorn and at least three different types of chips.

I can feel the excitement growing, and before I launch headfirst into that particular world I give Katie a quick rundown of what I am likely to do considering my mindset. Basically in the past I have never watched this movie with anyone else aside from in the theatre, so I have strange habits at certain points.

The menu pops up on the screen and we start the movie.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does have scenes from The Avengers, so obviously I don’t own them. Really sorry to have kept people waiting for so long, I do want to finish this eventually but this one was really hard to write for some reason. This one is really short but we are getting to the good stuff soon!

The silence that descends immediately when the movie starts lasts until the first moment Loki appears in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, then come uncontrollable bursts of squealing which are cut off as soon as we remember what is happening, which takes somewhere between five and thirty seconds.

Once Loki is off again, on his way to his secret hideout, the popcorn starts to disappear. First in ones and twos, then whole handfuls go down seconds apart. By the time Loki arrives in Stuttgart all the popcorn is gone, and then all the food is ignored for a few minutes.

This is where I get weird, like really weird. I’ve watched this movie at least ten times before now, but always on my own, and always totally obsessed with Loki.

“Kneel before me.” His voice drowns out all other thoughts in my mind, it always does. I don’t know why, but without even thinking about it, I slide off the chair, only just avoiding knocking the whole bowl of chips next to me all over the floor.

I kind of expected Katie to just pretend that nothing happened, or even laugh at me, what I did not expect is for her to slip off her chair and kneel on the floor next to me. His words flow over me and I feel more relaxed than I have in months.

We don’t get up until Loki is on the quinjet, worrying about the thunder and what follows.

This pattern continues for almost every appearance of Loki through the whole movie, some of the shorter ones don’t get us out of our chairs, but we pause our eating whenever He is on.

By the time the movie is over and The Avengers are eating schwarma I can barely hold on to my excitement for tomorrow morning. We shut off the TV and DVD player and head to bed.

My room is half covered in Loki posters and screenshots, which to anyone else I suspect would be menacing, but to me it is comforting, to feel Him watching over me.  
Yes, I’m weird, yes, I know that all this stuff is insane, but after Friday morning and what is about to happen tomorrow I might not be so insane anyway, and I’m already quite sure that I’m not alone in my habits.


	9. Chapter 8

I’m unsure when it was that I shifted from being asleep to being awake, but once I am awake long enough to register Katie, just starting to stir on the spare mattress, and remember why she is here, I know that I have no chance of getting back to sleep. Rolling around on my bed like a seal I sit up enough to see my clock. It insists that the time is quarter to seven.

I don’t hear mum making breakfast or anything, so she is probably still in bed. Katie struggles into an upright position and looks around a little dazed for a moment. Eventually she remembers where she is and why the are Loki posters and pictures all around her.

“That’s really weird you know, waking up with all these faces staring at you.”

“I don’t really notice anymore.”

We spend half an hour trying to convince ourselves that we should get up, before my belly finally makes its desires known, and I drag myself out from the covers to get some sort of breakfast.

Katie follows me down the hall to the kitchen. We both get bowls of cereal and settle at the table to eat.

Mum wanders through a bit later, grabbing some toast for herself and sitting across from us.

The TV chatters away in the background, not that there is anything interesting on, it is Saturday morning after all.

By the time breakfast is cleared up I am properly awake, and about to wander through to where my computer is on charge, but Katie drags me back to my room instead, with a pencil and paper in hand.

We settle back down and she starts scribbling furiously.

“What on earth are you doing?” I ask.

“Midgard.” She corrects my mistake, “And I’m making a list of all the stuff we should take to this thing.”

“Ok, why make a list, and why add tents and stuff?”

“Just in case.”

“We don’t even have most of this stuff you know, and if this goes where I think you think it will, then you forget to take into account magic.”

“Right, because if Loki calls an army, he’s going to waste his energy conjuring items that we could have brought for ourselves. That’s never going to happen, and you know it.”

“Yeah, but nobody is going to bring everything they might need for an extended military campaign to the first meeting, we don’t even know for sure that anything will happen.” I’m getting louder with each word, and mum pokes her head in, wondering what’s going on.

She clearly doesn’t believe that anything will happen, but makes a deal anyway. If we take our phones we can call her with a list of all the stuff we are going to need, and a location to drop it off, then we can pick it all up later on. We agree to that and Katie scribbles off most of her list, leaving lunch and sunscreen.

Mum makes us two sandwiches each and fills our water bottles as well as a spare, throws all that in a bag and puts it near the door.

That sorted we still have nearly an hour to fill before we need to go. I grab my laptop before Katie manages to drag me back into my room. 

Tumblr is still quiet for an unknown reason, and I can’t find anything about it online, so I go back to old posts, just after The Avengers was released.

I’ve seen most of them though, and so had Katie, so we end up watching unrelated videos for quite a while before mum comes in and suggests that maybe we should think about getting ready if we are going to this thing.

We shut down the computer and head out the door. It’s a 20 minute drive and we can barely contain our excitement until we are out of the car.

There are a few people there already and mum makes an exit as a host of other cars show up. Before long there are as many people there as there were on that Friday morning, and then quickly more. I didn’t even know there were this many Loki fans in the state, let alone the city.

Every knew each-other online already, and someone had the bright idea to put our usernames on some nametags so people could recognise each-other. I check the time, 10:55, something should happen soon, or it could all just be for nothing. I force that thought away, I’m in too deep now for it to be a publicity stunt.

I heart snippets of conversation all around.

“I reckon it’s just Tom having fun.”

“Midgard is so doomed.”

“All I want to know is why?”

I hear at least three people refer casually to the Earth as Midgard, and although it’s a little jarring at first, it kind of works on some level. Katie and I are talking to the owners of a few of our favourite blogs, and at some point we picked up giveaway pins from some of the art bloggers. For a moment everyone almost forgets why we are all here, any just treats it like a comic con, outside, with no stalls, and only one fanbase.

That moment of happy forgetfulness lasts only a few minutes when an expensive looking car rolls to a stop at the far end of the park. I don’t know whether to call the man who steps out Tom or Loki, He is wearing a black suit with an emerald green tie, just a hint to Loki in his outfit, but his face, his hair, his bearing all scream Loki. There is a moment where nobody even breathes, and then the tension that has been quietly building in the background breaks with an almost audible pop, and the screams start. Louder than anything I have ever heard before, louder than anything I will probably ever hear again.

He steps up onto a small hill just off to the side of the park and speaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger, another chapter won’t be too far away I promise!


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK I’m really really really sorry for the wait, I have been going through a bit of a rough patch, but I’m back into the swing of things a bit now so hopefully more fairly soon!
> 
> I love reviews, please review, the more I hear from you the more motivated I am to keep writing!!!

That voice.

That mesmerizing, hypnotizing voice.

He is Loki, and nobody will ever be able to convince me otherwise.

Within the first second after he steps up to stand above the gathered crowd we are silent. I am hanging on his every word, and I don’t think I am breathing but I don’t care.

The gathered masses, Loki’s loyal followers, fall to their knees and wait.

“Once more, those who are loyal gather before me, many of you I know were present when I first announced the truth of the nine realms. You all know of my intent, and you know of my past. Those stories are correct to a point, although there are several issues in both your mythology and movies which I will correct at a later date. Until then simply know that I have great power at my disposal which I will not hesitate to use if I deem it necessary.”

“I am sure some of you still hold doubt in your hearts and minds, let me dispel that now.”

Loki gestures to the car, waiting at the side of the park, and another figure emerges. There are only two ways to explain what happens after that. The man is clearly Tom Hiddleston, but Loki is still standing on the hill. Either one or the other is an illusion, which confirms Loki’s powers, or one is Tom and the other is Loki which would still confirm his existence.

Tom joins Loki on the hill, and Loki steps to the side.

“I am sure you all know who I am, and I am equally certain that you know who this is.” He motions towards Loki, who is waiting calmly for Tom to make his point.

“I also know that you would not be here if you were not truly serious about this, about knowing the truth. I have one more piece of information to add to the many things you know. Much of the movie franchise you know so well happened nearly 40 years ago. They were played out in other locations, away from the populations, but the movies were made after that, with actors such as myself, chosen by S.H.I.E.L.D to quell rumors and conspiracy theories. Rumors you probably never heard, I can tell that by the fact that you are here today, and not with S.H.I.E.L.D or worse.”

“It is that ‘or worse’ which brings us here today. During and after filming most of the cast were in contact with their characters, when I discovered what S.H.I.E.L.D had done to those who knew too much, I had to make contact with Loki. The way I discovered this information is something that I may share at a later date, for now only Loki and those involved know the full story.”

Tom steps back and Loki moves back to the focus of everyone’s attention.

“As you have just heard, the events which drew you to support me happened quite some time ago, and much has happened since. When Thomas told me of the actions of S.H.I.E.L.D I once again grew angry, partially this is due to the creation of your movie, ‘The Avengers,’ which caused me to relive much of my unbridled rage from the past. I also saw past that, for although my goal has never truly changed, I have grown since then, and learnt that the most important part of rule is to protect your people, not to steal them away or destroy them.”

At some point I started breathing again although I do not know when that was. Also somewhere in the middle of that speech my hand slipped into Katie’s. 

“I still intend to rule Midgard, although since you are here I suspect I would find little resistance and probably many willing fighters amongst this crowd, but I will not ask that of you today. Today all I ask is that you be ready, be watchful and be sure that S.H.I.E.L.D does not find you. I will call on you soon, and when I do you will serve or I will assume that you are a traitor, working with S.H.I.E.L.D or one of my other enemies throughout the realms. I can assure you that you will not enjoy your future if you are loyal to those who would oppose me.”

“I have discovered through S.H.I.E.L.D and other sources many of the terrible things done by the many governments of this realm, and I see only one solution, a single nation of all your realm’s people, I believe that it is safe to assume you see the same issues with your system at present, and that you see the same solution.”

I don’t know how, but I have stopped registering the complete absurdity of the situation. The revelation that all of my greatest dreams, and simultaneously worst nightmares, are true; does not shake me anywhere nearly as much as it should. It just kind of fits.

“You are all likely still wondering who or what shut off your online communications, it was proving difficult to block S.H.I.E.L.D from discovering more about this than intended, so I blocked the accounts of all those who had read or posted any details of the message you received. That situation will be remedied when you return to your homes, but be aware of what you are posting and who is watching, you do not want to tempt my rage.”

With that Loki and Tom return to their car, presumably to move on to their next event. The assembled group quickly stands up and begins to disperse, presumably to go home and check on tumblr.

Katie and I stretch our legs out and I call mum to come and pick us up. We arrange to meet her outside the shopping center after lunch so we have a chance to waste some money on random stuff.

The world just got a whole lot more interesting.


End file.
